It was decided in 2012 the county council to close it despite more than 2,000 people signing a petition in protest

The facility, which had been praised by Ofsted, cared for up to 49 children aged five and under, many of whom had learning difficulties. The council claimed at the time the closure would give mums and dads more choice by freeing up cash for new centres.

The first floor was used as a day centre for the elderly.

Many of the people attended the centre to give their family members some respite from their full time carers duties. However, this facility was also closed by the council last year.

Leek South county councillor, Charlotte Atkins said: "The day centre has been run down over the last few years as the county council had not accepted referrals.

"They then closed Leek Nursery which was rated excellent by Ofsted and had been in operation for 25 years.

"The town has lost much needed community assets. Now the council is allowing the premises to be sold off just to bring more money into its coffers, instead of helping Leek people.

"It is a sad day when money comes before vital services for Leek people. These were two well run services."

A property particular pamphlet produced by Bury & Hilton said: "This property provides an interesting opportunity with the buildings and site being suitable for a wide variety of uses, subject to gaining the necessary statutory consents. There is also an attached property, which was originally built as a residential dwelling, but again has been used as a day nursery.

"The property stands on a site of approximately 0.371 acres and comprises of a two-storey former industrial mill which has been most recently used has a day centre and children's nursery."

Ian Parry, Staffordshire County Council's deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, resources and transformation, said: "As a council we are committed to both protecting frontline services and maximising every single pound of taxpayers' money.

"This is a publicly-owned building so it makes absolute sense to sell it to help generate vital income to pay for and support other public services.

"We don't want to just leave it empty, which can cost money, and want to avoid it falling into disrepair, becoming an eyesore or target for vandals."